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An outbreak of a serious respiratory illness called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has been causing concern across the world, particularly in Asia. In this week's VEE-WORLD, we went live to Hong Kong to find out how SARS is affecting people's lives. Ahmed talked by webcam to Jenny Lam, a Hong Kong resident whose father works for a hospital authority.
'We are terribly worried,' Jenny said. 'We aren't going out as much any more and we all usually wear a surgical mask every time we go out. People have meals at home to avoid contracting SARS. There is less direct contact with people, especially in public places.
'We wash our hands as soon as we arrive home. If our hands are bearing the virus and we touch our eyes, nose or mouth, we can easily catch the disease. Also there are worries that increasing numbers of younger people seem to be becoming victims of the disease.
'Symptoms are similar to those of flu – high fever, dry cough, shortness of breath. To date 99 people have died in Hong Kong.
'My family and friends are all very frightened. We don't go out very often.'
Close contact with any infected person poses the highest risk – apart from hospital workers, most cases have been in the immediate family of someone who is infected. Apart from in Toronto, Canada, only a few cases have been identified outside South-East Asia, and these were in people who had travelled from South-East Asia or who had been in close contact with a case of SARS.
The government is currently strongly advising people not to travel to Greater Toronto in Canada, to Hong Kong, or to Guangdong, Beijing or Shanxi in mainland China. This advice is being reviewed regularly and may change.
Antibiotics and antiviral drugs are being used to treat SARS, but the exact cause of the disease has not been identified, so there is no specific treatment.
For more information, see the following websites:
DoH: SARS
www.doh.gov.uk/sars/index.htm
Information from the Department of Health.
World Health Organisation
www.who.int/csr/alertresponse/en
Latest updates and information about efforts to contain the outbreak worldwide.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.